RAILWAYS 



only take the following loads over the 

 named below, and the 8pee<l would aim be con- 

 siderably reduced. 



Level 40 wuoo* weighing MO loin. 



Incline 1 in 100 90 " " ISO " 



" 1 In 80 10 " " 140 " 



" 1 In 80 " " 84 " 



Before the Board of Trade wilj sanction the 

 opening of a line it lias to be satisfied as to the 

 KMBOtttof the bridges, that a minimum distance 

 of 6 ! ft has been left between the lines, and as to 



other <-i unlit inn*. 



The form of ' permanent way ' lias altered con- 

 siderably wince the laying of the first railways. 

 The first wrought-iron rails used on the Stockton 

 and Darlington weighed 28 Ib. to the yard. The 

 cheaiicniii;; of steel which followed the invention of. 

 the lie-seiner process hius led to the use of that 

 material for rails throughout the world, and the 

 size of the rails has been successively increased 

 until between 80 and 85 Ib. per yard is the usual 

 weight. In IJritish railway practice the rails are 

 supported on cast-iron cfiairs held by wooden 

 weages, and the chairs are spiked on to transverse 

 wooden sleepers. On American and colonial lines 

 chairs are dispensed with, and the rails are spiked 

 direct on to the sleepers. The joints are made by 

 'fish-plates' bolted on each side of the rails, and 

 the bolt-holes are made oblong or elliptical to 

 permit of the expansion and contraction of road 

 under changing temperatures. Blocks of stone 

 were sometimes used in the early history of rail- 

 ways to support the metals, but the rigidity ob- 

 taiaed was found to be very destructive of rolling- 

 stock, and wooden sleepers lying on gravel bailout 

 are now almost universally employed. Iron sleepers 

 have been found serviceable in some countries 

 where wood is liable to the attacks of insects. 



Light Jiailicays. In order to benefit the agri- 

 cultural and other interests in districts too poor 

 to make or support a railway on the usual terms, 

 the Light Railway Act wits passed in 1896 to 

 empower the construction of lines of cheaper con- 

 struction and simpler working than the ordinary. 

 To avoid the heavy parliamentary expenses, the 

 bill gives power to a Light Railway Commission to 

 make inquiry, and if it is satisfied, to issue orders 

 (subject to the approval of the Board of Trade) for 

 the construction or such railway. County, Burgh, 

 and District Councils are also empowered to initi- 

 ate such railways, or otherwise to advance jiurt 

 of the necessary capital, and the Treasury may 

 also advance a fike sum at 3J per cent, not exceed- 

 ing one-fourth of the whole capital. Several acts 

 have been passed for the construction of light rail- 

 ways in Ireland as a means of relieving distress. 

 Under the act of 1890 government voted 136,200 

 for this purpose. 



Signals. At a very early stage of railway work- 

 ing a system of signals was found to be necessary. 

 In 1830, when the Liverpool and Manchester line 

 was opened, a flag by day and lamp by night were 

 adopted ; but this soon proved inadequate for the 

 traffic, and in 1837 the managers of the Grand 

 Junction Railway erected poles about 12 feet in 

 height, with disco ami lamps turned through a 

 quarter circle by the poinUman working a lever at 

 the base. About 1842 a semaphore signal, some- 

 what similar to those now in use, was introduced. 

 Up to 1340 there were no 'distant' signals, hut in 

 that year this extra precaution was adopted. The 

 Micccs-fid concent ration ami interlocking of the 

 levers working lx>th |>intH and signals was dl'ected 

 in ItOil at the Bricklayers' Arms .function, and 

 in !S."i9 the first interlocking frame was fixed at 

 \Villi-sdcn.liinclion. Since that date the interlock- 

 ing and concentration of signal and point levers 

 has mode rapid progress, and <>f the total signals 



and ]ioinU in the United Kingdom over 91 per 

 cent, are thus protected. The signals now in use 

 may be classified as 'home,' 'distant,' ' starting/ 

 'advanced starting,' ami 'disc.' the last named 

 used on goods siding. Hy the interlocking of 

 points and signals, if tin- Muii.ilm.ui ha* fur in- 

 stance moved a lever that opens a pair of pointe 

 to enable a train to come out of a siding on to the 

 main line, the 'home' and 'distant' signal- must be 

 at 'danger' to stop any train from approaching on 

 the main line, ami it is impossible for him to lower 

 than. 



In the working of a railway the telegraph plays 

 a very important part. By its means trains are 

 started and protected throughout their journey ; 

 the signalmen are placed in communication with 

 each other, and are warned if the signals are not 

 acting properly. On the London and North- 

 Western system there are over 11,000 miles of wire 

 used for purely railway purposes, opart from the 

 6800 miles of Post-office wires. Before the intro- 

 duction of telegraphy on the railway signals were 

 placed at certain points, and kept fixed at ' danger* 

 for a certain time before another train was allowed 

 to pass. In 1853, however, the absolute block-tele- 

 graph system was introduced. Under the absolute 

 Mock there can be only one train in a given section 

 at the same time, wnile under the 'permissive* 

 system there may 1J more than one train in each 

 section. Takinjj A and B as the stations at each 

 end of the section, the working of the absolute 

 block system is thus arranged : the signalman at 

 station A gives to station B what is called the ' Be 

 Ready' signal, which indicates the nature of the 

 approaching train. The man at station B, if tin- 

 previous train has passed his cabin, and he knows 

 that the section between A and B is clear, repeats 

 this signal to the next box. The train is then 

 despatched from A, the signalman at that box 

 giving the warning 'Train on Line,' which the man 

 at B acknowledges, and at once gives the ' Be 

 Ready" signal to C, and so on. As soon as the 

 train lias passed B, the man in that box telegraphs 

 ' Line clear' to A, who acknowledges the message. 

 Of the double lines in the United Kingdom over 94 

 per cent, are worked on the absolute block system. 

 On most single lines the 'train-staff and ticket* 

 system is adopted. In this case, supposing there 

 are three trains at the terminus of a line or section 

 to proceed to the other end, the first and second 

 start with a ticket, but the third carries a staff 

 which is the only key for the box in which the 

 tickets are placea. No train is allowed to enter 

 the opposite end of a section until the t rain staff 

 arrives, so that it is impossible for two trains to 

 meet. The proper distance between trains run- 

 ning in the .-aim- direction is maintained by fixed 

 signals, and the block telegraph is the same as on 

 double lines. If necessary, the line is divided into 

 sections with crossing places, each section Ix-ing 

 worked as a separate line. By the ' train-tablet 

 system, a circular metal disc is electrically con- 

 trolled from the other end of the section, forming 

 practically a ' train -staff ' and block-telegraph 

 sy>tcm combined. Mechanical del ails of signalling 

 have on occasions to be, superseded l>v manual 

 work. In case of fogs a man, generally one of 

 the platelayers, is stationed at the foot of each 

 'distant' signal, and as the semaphore is raised to 

 'danger' he places on the rails two detonating 

 signals, which are exploded by the engine as it 

 pauses over them. If the engine-driver hears no 

 explosion In- knows the line is clear. 



i;,,ni/f. In deciding upon the gangs to be 

 adopted the constructors of the first railways natu- 

 rally adopted that of the tramroads then in exist- 

 ence \u. 4 feet 8J inches, that standard having 

 been fixed upon as being in common use for tin- 



